Being able to board from the lounge straight onto your aircraft feels quite luxurious. You go directly from a hopefully lovely ground facility straight onto your flight. This saves you having to walk to the gate, saving time and effort.

It’s a rare enough thing, and it used to be available when Concorde was flying. Pampered passengers could go directly from the Concorde Room at London Heathrow Terminal 4 onto their supersonic service. Where can you do this today with British Airways?

Board From The Lounge In San Francisco

British Airways have recently completed a total refurbishment of their San Francisco lounge. Happily, the ability to board from the lounge still remains, however only for certain services.


Due to the type of gates required for the Airbus A380, these flights don’t have this facility. However, if you’re travelling on board a Boeing 747-400, you will be able to swan onto your plane this way.

Chicago, Boston and… Belfast City!

People flying out of Chicago O’Hare also have the opportunity to experience a little bit of luxury. Just like San Francisco, there is a restriction. Only people in the First lounge board directly and only on services operated by the Boeing 777 and Boeing 747.


Passengers on domestic flights out of Belfast City airport also board straight from the lounge. This was a great surprise when I flew from there to London Heathrow. You can also board from the lounge in Boston, which is very nice indeed.

Overall Thoughts

Being able to board from the lounge is not guaranteed. Sometimes the aircraft will be at a different gate, but when possible you will be able to do this with BA at the above airports.

I find it to be rather nice to be able to go from lounge to the aerobridge without having to walk miles. It really does add something to the whole airport experience.

Have you ever boarded directly from the lounge to your flight? What other airlines offer this and at which airports? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image via Jean Delisi on Pinterest.
San Francisco lounge image via British Airways.